Improvement in eyelets



G. D. SMITH. BYELET.

Patented Feb. 13, 1866.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. SMITH, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN EYELET4S.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent NO. 52,614.. dated February 13, lob'b'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, CHARLES D. SMITH, of the city and county of \Vashington, and District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Eyelet-s; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made part of this specification, and in which- Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5 are perspective views of an eyelet on an'enlarged scale, illustrating my invention. Fig. 3 is a top view, showing the condition of the eyelet after it is clamped in the material.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The universal employment of the eyelet for many purposes, as in wearing-apparel, shoes,

of a moving die which turns or deflects its end outward, so as to form a clamping-flange of annular shape, is well understood, and, hence the die itself is the only part of the eyeletingmachine that need be referred to here. It

"sometimes happens that the deflectingsurface of the die does not conform to or fit accurately within the part of the eyelet which is bent or deflected, which may be due to either irregularity in the form of the eyelet or of the die. Hence a portion of the flange is sometimes 'bent inward instead of outward by the action of the die, or is mashed down flat,

whereby the eyelet is'rendered less efficient than when the entire flange is turned outward. The cause of this imperfection in deflecting and clamping the eyelet is that at the commencement of the action of the die the as yet unflanged end of the barrel of the eyelet doesnot snugly embrace the die all round, sothat while some parts of the end of the barrel are turned outward by the pressure of the deflecting-surface of the descending die, other parts or another part which may not touch the said deflecting-surface is drawn inward by the tension of the outwardly-moving parts, or at least occupies an inner position relatively to theportion which has been deflected outward, and being in this condition when the shoulder of the die comes in contact with it is either bent inward or mashed down irregularly. It is a noticeable factin this connection that where the tension upon the edge of the bore of the eye-' let is so great'during its deflection as to make it split the entire flange thus broken is bent outward and a good application of the eyelet is effected,

My invention consists .in making a special provision for the splitting of that portion of the eyelet which is deflected by the die, so that when the deflection commences the barrel is opened or divided, so that it splits in one, two, three, or more places, and in this divided state it is deflected and clamped down upon the material into which the eyelet is to be inserted, as shown in Fig. 3.

The means for adapting the eyelet to thus split or divide consists in slitting or nicking the eyelet at the unflanged end of the barrel.

Incisions or nicks may be made by machinery or in any suitable way, one, two, or more being made in each eyelet, according to the number of clamping parts into which it may be designed to have the eyelet split.

' In the annexed drawings, a represents the eyelet, and b the slits, nicks, or incisions there- Under the common mode of construction the continuous edge .of the barrel of the eyelet is subjected to more or less tension all round from the cause hereinbefore explained; but when the eyelet is slit each portion embraced between the slits is deflected and clamped independent] y of the contiguous portion of the eyelet, and hence no portion of the eyelet is affected by tension in consequence of the deflection of another portion. special provision for dividing or splitting is made the eyelet is almost invariably clamped in a proper manner, and a reduced apphcat1on-- of strength is required to deflect and clamp it. Practical test shows that the splitting of the eyelet increases its clamping and retaining capacity.

It is manifest that a, provision for a definite split or division maybe made by making a par- Therefore when this tial nick or slit in the end of the barrel-that is to say, such as will not extend entirely from the periphery to the interior of the barrel, thus being a simple indentation.

The eyelet shown in Fig. 4 is nicked at the top, so as to present the appearance of a seal'-.

lop, so that the several parts of the eyelet which are deflected and clamped willbe round 1n stead of angular on the edge. Various means of ornamentation may be employed.

Having thus described my invention, the following'is what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent Au eyelet which is slit, nicked, or indented, substantially as-and for the purpose specified.

. CHARLES D. SMITH. Witnesses:

W. F. HALL, J OHN A. WIEDERSHEIM. 

